Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

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Monday, November 19, 2012

Serbian Idioms - "Doterati Cara Do Duvara"

The Serbian idiom "doterati cara do duvara" has the similar meaning as the English one "to come to a head". I have often heard  this phrase in my childhood, always wondering what "duvar" might mean.

The word "duvar" is a loan word, and if you go to Google translate and check it at Turkish-English translation, you'll find out that the meaning of the word is "zid" (wall). So, the literal translation would resemble the expression "to drive someone (in this case "the tzar") up the wall" and yet, Serbian phrase for this expression (drive someone up the wall) is "dovesti nekog do ludila" (or litterally "make someone crazy"). You can check the pronunciation of these two idioms here, at our audio forum (and I hope you'll surprise your Serbian family or friends by pronouncing the phrases correctly and using them appropriately).

Talking about the usage, I was really surprised that in my group of eight teenage students only one had heard of  "doterati cara do duvara". She explained that her teacher of Serbian insists on students learning and using proverbs and idioms, but she also hasn't heard of the phrase being used outside of the classroom!  Does this mean that we tend to use idioms less frequently, or is it the case just with this idiom ? Maybe the world has changed for better and  retko iko ikada (rarely does anyone) "dotera cara do duvara" :)

What do you think ?

Friday, November 02, 2012

What's Something Like in Serbian

How to say "what is something like in Serbian" ? Listen to this song and answer my questions in the quiz. Make sure you click "Finish Survey" at the end in order to get an instant feedback:



Uradite kviz odmah = Do the quiz immediately!

Sunday, September 09, 2012

Serbian Verb Conjugations



Fill in the gaps with the correct verb form - you'll be able to see the Serbian verbs conjugated, above the text. You can write your answer in the comment below. For all those who'd like to more actively participate in learning Serbian, do join free Activator newsletter.

Friday, September 07, 2012

Which Serbian cases to use after "iz", "rođen u ..." and "živim u "



Write the answers to these questions in the comment: Start like this:
Ja sam iz...
Rođen sam u...

Thursday, August 09, 2012

Learning Serbian Family Words

Listen to this podcast about Jeremija's family and write in the comment the names of your relatives.

For example: Tatin brat se zove Slobodan. On je moj stric/čika.

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Podcast about Serbian Church Wedding

Listen to this short podcast about church weddings in Serbia and what one should know before they take the plunge. Try to answer the questions posted in the quiz:

Monday, July 30, 2012

Past Tense in Serbian - Common Mistakes

If you watched our previous podcast, you'll be aware of the fact that Jeremija keeps making mistakes, and I do my best to help him understand which correct forms to use. This time the topic was "bio" or "bila":

Are there any other mistakes which I didn't correct ?

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Serbian Pronunciation - Lj and Nj

Let's practise pronunciation of the Serbian letters "lj" and "nj". In the video you'll be able to see their counterparts in the Cyrillic script. Try to listen and repeat:

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Serbian for Beginners - Common Mistakes

This is a short video with Jeremija, who was pretty tired when answering my questions, so he made quite a few mistakes. Try to figure out which numbers are wrong, and what he should have said:



If you want to watch the video lessons covering the same topic and level, check out this page with beginner Serbian lessons.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Learn Serbian Podcast

Monday, July 23, 2012

Fairy Tales in Serbian - Ružno pače



Listen to this video and answer the questions, which refer to the interview with Nebojša Dugalić, in the second part:

  1. Koliko dece ima Nebojša ?
  2. Da li čita bajke svojoj deci ?
  3. Zašto on čita bajke svojoj deci ?
  4. Da li je "Ružno pače" film ?
  5. Kome je prvenstveno namenjen ovaj CD ?
  6. Da li Vi čitate bajke na srpskom ? 
  7. Da li Vama neko čita bajke na srpskom ?
  8. Da li volite bajke ? Zašto ?

Listening comprehension for the pre-intermediate level :

  1. Does Nebojša have any kids ?
  2.  If yes, how many ?
  3. Does Nebojša read fairy tales to his children ?
  4. Is "Ružno pače" in the video a film or just CD ?

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Serbian Pronunciation - Daily Podcast about Greetings

If you want to practise your pronunciation and recognition of the letters "č", "ć", "š", "s", "đ" and "d", listen to this video without watching first. Try to figure out if Jeremija makes any mistakes when pronouncing greetings in Serbian, and then watch the video. Have fun!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Study Serbian Pronouns

Watch this video with the Serbian pronouns in the Genitive and Accusative cases.


I added all the forms of the Personal Pronouns in Serbian below (source:wikipedia), but what's more important for you is to practise them in context. That's why I'd suggest you watch this video and then try to mute it and say the sentences while watching. 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Serbian Podcast - Video with Explanations




Practise the Cyrillic script while listening to the video podcast: 


Представница Србије Мина Милутиновић победила на такмичењу “Miss World Next Top Model”!

Победница на овогодишњем такмичењу “Miss World Next Top Model” у Бејруту је представница Србије Мина Милутиновић. Мина се у оштрој конкуренцији лепотица из целог света истакла харизмом, маркантним цртама лица и савршеном фигуром.
Седамнаестогодишња представница Србије из Смедеревске Паланке освојила је прво место и заслужено однела победу у оштрој борби 38 лепотица, а поред круне и ленте, добила је и огрлицу. Друго место припало је представници Тајланда Каники Кункаео, док се на трећем месту нашла Улијана Бердишева, представници Русије.

Четврто место заузела је Дијана Милојковић, такође из Србије, која је поред ове титуле понела и ленту за најлепшу вечерњу тоалету.
Мина је чланица модне агенције “Crystal Model Agency”.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Serbian for Beginners - Easy Lessons

If you've been following super easy lessons of Serbian, you'll be familiar with Jeremija's family and I'm sure you'll be able to solve this mystery:
Conjugation of the verb "imati" in the Present Tense:

Task:


You can leave your replies in the comments below:
Beginner lesson course: Serbian 101

Friday, June 08, 2012

Advanced Serbian - Listening Exercises

If you liked one of the previous listening comprehension lessons of Serbian at the advanced level, I'm sure you'll enjoy listening to this interview with  Biljana Krstić:



  1. Kako se zove grupa Biljane Krstić ?
  2. Kada je objavljeno licencno izdanje albuma "Bistrik" ?
  3. Gde se sve album "Tarpoš" prodaje ?
  4. Ko je sve uticao na Biljanu da se počne baviti etno muzikom ?
  5. Da li je Biljana bežala sa časova ?
  6. Šta znači reč "bistrik" ?
  7. Koliko godina postoji grupa "Bistrik" ?

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Serbian Language with Explanation in Spanish

Thanks to my diligent student of Serbian, Mirko Radović, from now on you'll be able to follow easy Serbian lessons with explanations in Spanish. I send many thanks to Mirko and all the members of the FaceBook community Serbios en Latino America!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Easy Texts in Serbian Cyrillic Script

I believe many of you interested in learning to read the Serbian Cyrillic script have enjoyed an excellent blog post by Nat, published back in 2009. Now, if you'd like to practise reading, I'm adding all the easy texts both in the Latin Alphabet and Cyrillic script into Serbian101 and Serbian102 courses:

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Serbian Video Lessons


You can access the full version with pronunciation, explanations and numerous interactive lessons either via Serbian 101 course. Here comes the useful vocabulary from the video lesson:
1. je iz = is from
2. on živi = he lives
3. u = in
4. sa = with
5. supruga = spouse (fem.)
6. troje = three
7. deca = children
8. njegova = his
9. žena = wife
10 zvati se = to be called
11. imati = to have
12. godina = year
13. raditi = to work
14. kao =as
15. inspektor = inspector
16. slobodno vreme = free time
17. igrati = to play
18. ići = to go
19. pozorište = theatre

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Interactive Video Lessons of Serbian



Words which you might not know are as follows:

  1. on = he
  2. iz = from 
  3. godina = year
  4. godine = years
  5. imati = to have
  6. on ima = he has
  7. star = old
  8. inspektor = inspector
  9. raditi = to work
  10. on radi = he works
  11. oženjen = married
  12. udata = married
  13. dete = child
  14. deca = children
  15. sin = son
  16. ćerka = daughter


Sunday, April 15, 2012

Your Questions: Hristos Vasrkse, Vaskrese or Voskrese ?



If you carefully followed Facebook statuses during Easter time in Serbia, you've probably noticed three different greetings:

  • Hristos Vaskrese
  • Hristos Vaskrse
  • Hristos Voskrese
Which one to use ? Watch this video and decide for yourself.

Monday, April 09, 2012

Study Serbian - Colours

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Past Tense of To Be in Serbian

Monday, March 12, 2012

Learn Serbian with "Neven" Series

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Listening Comprehension Exercise - Intermediate Level



Listen to this beautiful song and without reading the lyrics try to answer the questions as follows:
  1. Gde se dešavala ova priča ?
  2. Koje godišnje doba je opisano ?
  3. Šta je to "salaš" ?
  4. Šta je to "petrolejka" ?
  5. Da li se u pesmi pominje belo ili crno vino ?
  6. Kako se kaže "let's sing altogether" ?
  7. Šta znači "dobro nam došli" ?

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Super Slow Lessons of Serbian for Beginners

For all the real beginners in Serbian, I started refreshing Serbian 101 course on Udemy platform with the new series of super slow video lessons. I uploaded one of them to my Youtube channel, so you can see if you like it.


I'm sure you're going to like it !

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Learn Serbian with Songs - Future Tense



Govori se da me varaš
i da _______ me ostaviti
a znaš dobro da sam bolan
i da ___________ ozdraviti

Znam da više prava nemam
na te tvoje oči crne
slaži makar da me voliš
ne daj da mi duša trne

Ti _______ opet ić' u kolo
dolazit  ______  polivači
pivat _________ pisme stare
pratit _______ vas tamburaši

A nediljom kad _____ šetaš
šuškat će na tebi svila
sigurno ________ zaboravit'
da si kadgod moja bila
ne lomi mi srcu grane
sačekaj da samo stane.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Serbian New Year

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Online Serbian Language Course, Serbian 102 Starting in February

I'll be starting a new series of online lessons for the course Serbian 102 which takes approximately 2 months to finish. When you enroll the course, you'll be able to
  • access all the materials any time you wish, 
  • download mp4, mp3, pdf files 
  • join the discussion forum
In this period I'm also adding new materials and I'm sure you like'll my new "Horoscope Serbian" series:

Monday, January 09, 2012

Serbian 101 - Winter Special

In January and February I'll be adding "Winter Special Edition" of easy Serbian lessons to all of my online courses of Serbian, starting from Serbian101, Serbian 102, Serbian 103 and Serbian 201. Some of these, I'll be posting to this blog, so you can follow them and have an idea what they are about. Through these "horoscope lessons of Serbian" I'll be trying to help you learn how to speak as a man/woman through different  tenses.

Accompanying Presentation with the explanations in English will be posted on each course. It looks like this:

Saturday, January 07, 2012

Srećan Božić :)

Friday, January 06, 2012

Serbian Christmas Greetings

Advanced Serbian - Srpski kao drugi jezik

Gde je ključ? Где је кључ? - Učimo srpski sa Marinom
Gde je ključ? ...
Where is the Key?-...
By Marina Petrović
Photo book